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Season series: This is the first of five meetings for these Northwest Division rivals. The teams split their six meetings last season, with Edmonton winning two of three matchups at Rexall Place.

Big story: Both Colorado and Edmonton have shown flashes of class thus far this season – both have wins over the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings, for example – but each enter Monday’s game on the heels of a loss. Colorado was defeated by San Jose on Saturday afternoon, and Edmonton’s comeback bid fell short later that night in a 4-3 loss to Calgary in the Battle of Alberta.

Team scope:

Avalanche: In their first game of a four-game road swing, Colorado entered San Jose hoping to stick with the undefeated Sharks. And, at least in the full-strength situations, they did. However the Sharks converted three-of-six power play opportunities, with two of goals coming after Ryan O'Byrne was assessed two instigating penalties while sticking up for Gabriel Landeskog after the Avalanche captain was hit hard moments prior. San Jose added an even strength goal late in the second period to take a 4-0 win. Colorado had outscored opponents 7-1 heading into the contest.

Even with the offensive inconsistency and defensive indiscipline the Sharks exposed, Colorado was lucky to leave HP Pavilion with no more damage done as Landekskog was able to skate off after the hit by Brad Stuart. He returned to the game in the beginning of the second period.

Oilers: On Saturday, Edmonton, losers of 15 of their last 18 against rival Calgary, looked poised to turn the tides against their Alberta rival. The Oilers had just come off a huge 2-1 overtime win over Los Angeles as the Flames sputtered to an 0-2-1 record to start the season. Calgary had something else in mind, however, as the Flames jumped out to an early 2-0 lead they never relinquished. The early deficit was nothing new for Edmonton – the Oilers are 2-2-0 despite not having led at any point this season, just over 248 minutes of game time -- but Edmonton wasn't able to mount the comeback that won them points against Vancouver and LA.

"Getting behind all the time - especially on the road - you're going to have trouble consistently taking points out of that so we need to rectify that and work on that quickly," coach Ralph Krueger said.

Who’s hot: For all the fanfare surrounding No. 1 overall pick Nail Yakupov, another Oilers rookie is making the bigger impression thus far. Defenseman Justin Schultz has two goals and three assists through four games, including a goal and assist against the Flames.